New Beginnings Lead to Big Things

Today was a great reminder that new beginnings can grow into big things. Since selling Our Urban Farm in Minneapolis, we have been carrying around a carefully packed zip-lock bag of acorns collected from the sacred oak tree from our former back yard. They represent one of the many things we hoped to bring with us from the magical place we called home for 31 years. Our plan is to plant some at the new home we are building in Montpelier, Vermont. Having never germinated oak trees before, and having read that it can be a bit tricky, we may have over-done our collection of seeds from the mother tree. We carefully packed 54 acorns in damp sphagnum moss and put them in the refrigerator.

Like many seeds with hard, thick exteriors, oak seeds need to be stratified over the winter. This means keeping them cool, without letting them freeze, while also keeping them damp to keep them alive. This lengthy process gently softens the hard outer shell of the seed so that the delicate inside can break through it during germination. Since leaving Our Urban Farm in December, we have been carrying our clutch of seeds from place to place during our Palm Springs winter vacation, keeping them cool in hopes they might germinate once we got back to Minnesota so that we can bring actual seedlings with us once our new home is finished in Vermont.

Today, we checked and it seems they are all sprouting!

Each of these tiny sprouts may grow to over 100 feet tall, attain a diameter of up to 10 feet and provide shelter and food to a wide range of wildlife. They are also a great reminder that new beginnings can grow into big and wonderful things. It is delightfully fun that we are starting our new beginning with these seeds from our former lives. Also: like these seeds, our new beginning was made much easier by our own winter down time when we could rest, settle and get ready for our new big adventure.